League Judgment Ahri
by drunkdragon
Summary: On this 23rd of April, CLE 22, Ahri, the Nine Tails Fox, is judged.


Just taking a short break from my main story with this little piece. There might already be a League Judgment somewhere on here for Ahri, but this idea wouldn't leave my head, so I figured I might as well just put it down and move on.

I do not own League of Legends.

Onwards!

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League Judgment: Ahri

**Observation**

With each and every sauntering step, her nine snow white tails softly bobbed and flicked about in the air. Soft black locks of braided hair framed her face, which was almost always with its small and mischievous smile. Her Ionian boots left soft padding sounds, managing only the faintest of echoes to reverberate down the marble hall of the Institute of War. Echoes so faint that only the black fox ears on top of her head could pick up.

Ahri knew that she would meet no one on the way to the judgment ceremony, but was wearing the same red top that exposed her shoulders and a bit of her chest, angled upwards at the top of her sleeves. Her white layered skirt covered the tops of her thighs, but exposed more than enough to capture the wandering eye. And there were so many wandering eyes...

But what was most peculiar was the glowing white orb that lay levitating out over her hand. It cast a shifting glow over the sides of the path she was walking. Looking closely, one could see churning wisps of something in it.

She reached the end of the hallway, greeted by large and heavy double doors. Above it was an inscription.

"The truest opponent lies within."

Her head slowly tilts to the side, as if intrigued or just pretending to be, and enters.

**Judgment**

The darkness was all-encompassing once the doors shut behind her. Even with her beyond human vision, Ahri could not see anything at all. Her orb gave off no light and if it wasn't for her own magic keeping it in the air, it could have been swallowed up for all she knew.

And then, she let out a breath, she felt something was wrong. Her chest was rising with each gasp of air, every one being needier and needier than the last. It was as if she was drowning. Her tails suddenly felt heavy, and one by one she felt them slowly fall down to the floor. She followed soon after, and opened her eyes.

The soft green of Ionian bamboo greeted her. Breaths still heaving, she knew where she was, and she was not liking it at all. The playful smile that she always wore was instead a pained wince. Her tails had become more gray than white, betraying her lack of energy. Her normally bright orb was flickering and barely touching her hand..

She had gone on too long without sustenance. It was a simple, sometimes enjoyable, transaction of spiritual energy from a host, but held dire consequences for the one on the other end. Ahri had discovered this after her first time. It was with a lone Ionian guardsman. A little nervous and more than just a little excited, she was able to captivate and convince the man into taking a break with her from his patrol route.

It was painful in the beginning. The spiritual energy sloshing within her made it feel like her skin would burst, unable to hold onto it. But she steeled herself, fought through the pain, and reached the point where her body was able to withstand it and even feel good, great, fulfilled, pleasurable, satisfied to take in everything he could offer her. It was ecstasy on a whole different level.

But the man had become a mere shell. Still alive, but soulless. Masquerading as a normal villager, she had observed the commotion over the body. She eavesdropped on the doctors, who were working day and night to try and see just what was wrong.

Being a natural predator at heart, she felt responsible, but held little remorse. Animals that could not get away, after all, were eaten. And so it was for the next man. And the man after that. And the woman who happened to catch her in the act.

She stopped counting after that. Each one was just another face, another burden on her shoulders. Some men and women she targeted had a family. Others were strong sons and daughters whose parents relied on them. The more lives she ended to ensure her human form, the more lives were affected. It was new to her. When she killed an animal to eat, none of its kin cared. When she killed a human, droves of them would come out to mourn in a closely knit village.

Exercising her judgment, it would be best to target those who she felt were the more... bad types of humans. Good and bad was also a new issue for her. There was no good and bad in the wild, but there were suddenly laws and rules that separated the two from each other. And there were degrees of good and bad as well. Everyone was technically a little bad, breaking a few rules here and there. But very, very few were outright malicious and terrible. They were of limited supply in Ionia.

Which was why she was in pain now. She had not preyed upon humans for too long of a time period.

And like any predator, she needed to eat or die.

Gathering her energy, she shrunk and tucked away her tails into her dress and took a kneeling position on the floor. She held her orb between her hands and with great difficulty mashed it together until it was in the size, shape, and taste of a sweet dried plum. She began to reach out for anyone. Her eyes closed, she pushed aside the feeling of pain and exhaustion to search. Luckily, there was someone nearby. Focusing again, she directed all of dwindling powers to guide the person towards her. It felt a little different for some reason, but she ignored it and continued on.

Now Ahri knew that it all of this was an illusion. It was impossible for such a small room to produce such a wide and expansive forest. She also knew that it was digging her mind for her most volatile memory. Knowing that it was all in the past, she steeled herself for the encounter.

Walking into the clearing was that young boy. Dark, short hair surrounded his wide face. He had an uncaring smile on his face, as if the world were just a great wide expanse for him to explore on his own. Innocent and naïve, no doubt the pride and joy of a happy mother and father.

"Hello," he said.

She wanted to tell him to leave, to run and never come back here. But she neither had the energy nor the right to do so. The memory was the master. She did not respond to him, only smiled through her pain. She held out in her right hand that dried red plum. The boy, not knowing any better and charmed beyond salvation, softly reached out and took it from her hand before quickly eating it. His smile grew and he left, saying a quick goodbye as he went back to playing whatever he was playing before.

Her orb would slowly suck out his spiritual energy from the inside. It would start with a simple cough before being bedridden within the next five days. He would be soulless by the eighth. It was a method she had come up with to deal with those who were very unsavory or when she simply didn't have the time to stay in the area. It allowed her to come and go from one settlement to the next.

But it was painful. The boy would suffer from the siphoning until everything was gone. Knowing this, she stood and slowly left, going in the opposite direction the boy had gone. She walked until nightfall, until her legs could not hold her weight any longer, and she crumpled. She was exhausted and dead inside. But she would live through the night in uneasy sleep with her insides screaming and tearing at her because of the energy she was already leeching away from the boy.

The illusion ended here. She already knew where it was going and what was going to happen. As expected, the boy became soulless on the eighth day. She stole his spirit to power her own. She would live and he, her youngest and last victim, would die. The darkness lifted and she was once again in the small room. Her orb was floating above her hand, and she peered into it. Ashen faces swirled within, faces she recognized. Before she could turn away, the one face she could never bring herself to confront rose to the surface.

Usually she stopped looking at this point. She tried to never look in the first place, but sometimes she found herself gazing at it anyway, remembering the moments. But this time, she could not look away because the boy was looking into her very eyes, something the faces had never done before.

Her mouth was hanging open when he spoke in that childish voice. "Why do you want to join the League?"

She found herself unable to resist the question. "... Because I am an bad human... and this is the prison I rightfully deserve," her voice was devoid of her usual charm and playfulness. The smile was gone.

"How does it feel, exposing your mind?"

Her eyes closed, and she took a deep breath. The pain that had racked her body earlier was gone. Straightening up, she gave her tails a ruffle, shook her head, and flicked her ears. She put on that little mischievous smile again.

"Hideous," her voice was sad, but gradually picked up as she continued. "But that's a secret for only you and me."

Looking away from her orb, she saw the doors of the League open up to her. With heavy footsteps, she padded through.


End file.
